Meet Ryan Heimbach | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ryan Heimbach and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born in Tampa, Florida and raised in Laguna Beach. Growing up in Laguna played a part with me becoming an artist. I have so much to be grateful for being raised in that town. I even met my wife there while I was doing live art at an event.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Most of the art I make is figurative and sometimes can have a narrative aspect to it. I also like to play around with textures, for example a series I did was charcoal drawings on wrinkled paper. So many people can paint something where it look like a photograph, so when I approach a piece or a new series I want to try to give it a different look or texture that might have not been done in the way that I made it.

I started drawing for fun at a young age and didn’t pursue it in a serious way till my early 20’s. Since then I have been working with an artist and have done my own art whenever I have a moment of creativity. The biggest struggle I have is staying consistent with creating artwork. It needs to become a habit, like brushing my teeth.

I hope my pieces and my scope of work can make someone give a second look at it and wonder exactly what is going on whether that is a kid or an adult. Makes the viewer want to take a closer look at the texture or meaning of the piece. I also hope to make my kids proud of what I have made once they are old enough to fully understand the work and emotion that I have put in to my pieces.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Depending on the time of year I would have different plans for someone to see the spots I live in my town, but this short list would be the basics I would want to do or show them.

-Hike in the hills a few times on different trails to see all the towns beauty and tell them a little history of everything.

-One of the mornings go to breakfast at a place call the Snooty Fox. It’s a little hole in that wall that is a classic American diner that I recently found.

-Go to my favorite beach called Crescent Bay for the day.

-Get them some Mexican food at 3 different times for lunch or dinner to show them different types.

-Get some sushi at least once.

-Dinner at a my new favorite Indian restaurant called India Grill.

-One of the evenings take a walk before dinner at Heisler Park, which is a place I spent many hours as a kid.

-Have dinner at a place called Thai Bros, which is my favorite places to get Thai food in town.

None of these places are too fancy but they mean something to me or are just classic food from the area.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My first mentorship came from Andrew
Myers and I have seen and learned so much over the years from him. It is also through so many other friends that are masters in many different creative professions that I get to learn from. My wife Kimberly has also been so loving and supportive of my creative lifestyle.

Website: https://www.ryanartwork.com

Instagram: @ryanartwork @livecharcoal

Image Credits
Ryan Heimbach